Bubble tea is having its moment in Singapore now, and there’s a newly-opened Taiwanese bubble tea shop in Telok Ayer that’s called, er, The Moment.

Hailing from Taiwan’s Zhongli district, near Taipei, The Moment has just one outlet in its native country, as well as a franchised outlet in Puchong, Malaysia and now, Singapore. It was first opened in 2017 by two young Taiwanese university fresh graduates who had worked in bubble tea shops before setting up their own business.

The Singapore outlet is a family-run affair of sorts. The Moment’s local master franchise was brought in by first-time F&B towkay Eugene Lau (right), 40, who roped in his wife Evelyn Ngu (left), 35, and her younger sister Belinda Ngu, 20, to run the operations. They partnered a Malaysian co-owner and spent “roughly six figures” on the franchise rights and setting up shop.

Eugene is currently still working in the pharmaceutical industry, while Evelyn left her job in accounting to helm the shop. “My wife likes bubble tea, so we decided to open a bubble tea shop,” he shares. “We chanced upon this brand when we were holidaying in Taiwan, and I felt it was unique from the other bubble tea shops. Most of their drinks are made with fresh ingredients, so it’s a little healthier than the usual bubble tea.”

Both Evelyn and her sis Belinda make the drinks at the store, having been trained by The Moment’s staff from Taiwan who flew to Singapore to conduct the training.

The takeaway unit is tucked away in a quiet corner of Telok Ayer. We initially had difficulty tracking down its location (it’s hidden behind the Segafredo Zanetti cafe). It’s decorated simply, with a self-ordering machine (like the ones you see at fellow bubble tea shop Koi) and a photo wall emblazoned with The Moment’s logo.

The Moment offers six drink series: Flavoured Tea (which is really four types of basic teas like Ceylon Black Tea and Oolong Green Tea), Fresh Milk Tea, Fragrant Milk Tea (which uses powdered creamer instead of fresh milk), Fresh Lemon Juice, Fruit Tea and a Small Cup Limited, which offers drinks that are best served in a smaller portion to avoid customers getting jelak on their order.

The most famous drink here is the viral Grey Milk Tea, an Instagrammable concoction that consists of milk tea spiked with bamboo charcoal powder that gives it inky gradient hues.

Alas, you won’t find the insanely popular brown sugar pearl milk drink here. “We had considered selling brown sugar bubble tea, but it has been reported lately as being very unhealthy. Bamboo charcoal is more special and healthier,” Eugene tells 8days.sg.

You’ll also have to travel to Telok Ayer if you want to try this; Eugene reckons that he won’t be opening more outlets anytime soon. “Customers are very particular about quality. If we expand too fast, the standard might drop,” he says.

We try five drinks and give our verdict below.

This blend contains oolong tea and Pauls fresh milk from Australia. The recommended sugar level for the drink is 30% (too sweet, and it will overpower the natural flavour of the bamboo charcoal), though you can customise the sugar level to your liking. But if you want to ’gram this, know that the higher the sugar level, the more distinctive the gradient hues from milk-white to light grey to dark grey (which means the more sugar it has, the more chio it is). So make your choice wisely.

Taste-wise, our 30% sugar level Grey Milk Tea is like a slightly earthier, smokier version of regular milk tea. It’s an interesting twist, though the bamboo flavour could be stronger. The oolong tea’s fragrance is heady and lovely, but the drink lacks mouthfeel — despite it being pricier than the average milk tea, it doesn’t come with any toppings. We say spring an extra $0.60 for black tapioca pearls or $1.20 for custard pudding to jazz up this cup up.

Oh, and one photo tip: lighting matters if you want to capture the gorgeous cloudy hues of this Gothic-looking drink. Take your photo outdoors, with plenty of natural light. The colours show up better, advises shop staff Belinda Ngu.

Boiled imported winter melon pulp is added to milk-infused winter melon tea. Mix the layers, and this becomes a smooth beverage with strong winter melon flavour. Sweet, cooling and we feel healthier ingesting this. This pick doesn’t come with any toppings either, but it’s tasty enough that we didn’t crave for any.

Jasmine green tea is mixed with fresh passion fruit, pearls and lychee-flavoured jelly for this drink. The crunchy passion fruit-infused iced oolong tea is super refreshing for our hot weather, but the pearl texture is softer than what we’d have liked. In a sea of bubble tea shops offering flavoured pearls, the basic tapioca pearls here are not as exciting in comparison. The lychee jelly cubes taste like a sweeter, yummier version of nata de coco.

This crowd-pleasing combination is not bad — the mildly sweet, thick matcha-flavoured milk and gooey dollop of adzuki beans make a satisfying combination.

If you die die must have your brown sugar pearl milk, this is the closest option that The Moment offers… except it doesn’t come with any caramelised brown sugar, just regular fresh milk with regular pearls and sugar syrup in an amount of your choice. It’s definitely ‘healthier’ and less sweet than its brown sugar counterpart (unless you go for, er, 100% sugar level), but it’s also kinda like eating chicken rice without the rice. We’d rather just YOLO and go for a good cup of the real deal any day.

The Telok Ayer neighbourhood doesn’t offer many bubble tea options, so consider The Moment one of the few picks you get if you work around the area and suddenly crave for bubble tea. Their drinks are Insta-worthy and somehow, not as sweet compared to our orders with the same sugar level at other bubble tea shops, so it’s good for folks who don’t have an insanely sweet tooth. But we say maybe skip their underwhelming viral Grey Milk Tea, unless you’re only getting it for the ’gram.

#01-06A, 51 Telok Ayer St, S048441. Tel: 9654-5289. Open daily except Sun. Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-3pm. www.themomentsingapore.com.

PHOTOS: ALVIN TEO